A
definite improvement in the Johannesburg residential property market is
evident in the latest results posted by the six Sothebys International
Realty offices operating across the city  and the interest rate
decrease this week is likely to give it a further boost.

Thats the word from Lew Geffen, chairman of Sothebys International
Realty in SA, who says the number of homes sold by the groups Johannesburg
offices in the year to end-February showed a 47% increase compared with
the previous 12 months, with turnover showing a 42% improvement as a result.

And with affordability further improved by the 0,5 percentage point
cut in interest rates this week, we expect to see sustained improvement
over the next year.

Geffen says that, as predicted at this time last year, it was big ticket
sales that led the way to recovery. Our Johannesburg offices achieved
a 30% increase in sales of properties priced at more than R5m over the
past 12 months, with the average sales price in this category rising from
R8,8m to R9,3m.

Of course, he notes, many of these multimillion-rand sales were cash
deals and prompted less by declining interest rates over the past 12 months
than by the perception among shrewd buyers that the market would reach
the bottom of its downward curve by the third quarter of 2009 and would
soon start moving up again.

However, other sectors of the market that are more interest rate-dependent
have also shown a major increase in activity in recent months, especially
since the banks began easing their leading criteria. This has been particularly
evident in the under-R1m bracket, where sales volumes at end-February
were up a whopping 79% year-on-year and turnover showed a 74% increase.

And even in the embattled R1m to R2m category, there was a 26%
increase in both volume and turnover.

Geffen says, though, that the sterling results achieved during a particularly
tough year for the real estate market are also due in large part to the
excellent performance of the agents working in the Johannesburg offices.

An improvement in market sentiment is of little use unless you
have the agents to make the most of it. On the other hand, the agents
in our Johannesburg offices are all very experienced and battle-hardened
from previous recessions, and have just proved themselves once again by
achieving an increase in sales even in the worst of times.

Such professionalism is just what Johannesburg home sellers should
be looking for in the months ahead as the market continues to move back
towards normal growth.